Now, we’re in the home stretch. As we approach the close of escrow, there are just a few more pieces to pull together before transferring ownership of the property.

Walk-through Inspection: a few days before closing the buyers will ask to have a walk-through inspection to ensure the property is delivered to them as it should be. The property should be free of the seller’s personal items, the staging cleared, and the property cleaned one final time for the new buyers to take possession.

Preparation: sometimes problems can occur even in this last stage; whether it's a snag with the buyer’s loan, or just some last minute paperwork needed. Not to worry, I’ll be the first to know about it and will get to work to put a solution in place. In my 20 years of experience, I’ve seen some pretty quirky issues come up, and I usually know how to handle them efficiently.

The Signing Appointment: the signing appointment is where everything comes together, where you arrive at the escrow office to sign all the documents. We will make sure the financial numbers add up, the title report is clear, and the payoff notices are in place. You won’t see the buyers, but they will have a signing appointment of their own. I will be with you to answer any questions you might have as we review each form. A few things to keep in mind as we get to this point:

You will receive a settlement statement in advance of the signing appointment to verify the financial details including the proceeds you can expect.

The Closing: when all the paperwork has been received and verified by the escrow officer and the buyer’s lender, the escrow officer disburses the funds in escrow to the various parties- you among them. At the same time, the property records with the tax assessor under the new buyer’s names. This part typically takes several days to happen after you sign. You’ll get a phone call from me stating “you are now off title- congratulations!”If you are wiring proceeds to your account, you can expect the process to take an additional business day.